A few scallops are occasionally found in Slocum's River and other places, but in no quantity to furnish any commercial fishery.
Eastham.
The scalloping grounds are on the west side of the town, about half a mile out. During the season of 1906-07, 6 men, working at intervals during the winter, managed to take a total of 500 bushels from these flats.
Edgartown.
Edgartown, situated at the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard, possesses extensive scallop grounds, and is one of the leading towns in the production of this shellfish. This fishery, even more important than the quahaug industry, furnishes steady winter employment for a large number of the inhabitants.
The important grounds are in Cape Poge Pond and in Edgartown harbor, while occasionally beds of scallops, especially "seed," are found in Katama Bay. These grounds comprise an area of 2,000 acres, chiefly of grass bottom.
At Edgartown scalloping is done both with sail and with power boats, which are generally auxiliary cat boats, though power dories are used to some extent. All but two of the power boats are doubly manned, while the sail boats carry but one man. Eleven sail and 15 power boats, employing 39 men, are engaged in the fishery.
Two kinds of dredges are used, the "scraper" for scalloping in the eel grass and the "slider" for clean surface. The depth of water over the scallop beds is not more than 18 feet, necessitating 10½ fathoms of rope. The price of a dredge, including rope, is about $3, which is cheaper than in the Buzzards Bay towns. Each power boat uses six to eight, which are held out by "spreaders," poles extending from the sides of the boat, in order that the dredges may cover more ground and not trail behind one another.
The greater part of the scalloping is done by power, and, in spite of the extra cost of nearly 90 cents per day, the proportionate increase makes this method more profitable; it is claimed to increase the catch about one-third. Scalloping with power necessitates the services of two men, as one man has to cull while the other steers. At the end of the "drift" the boat is stopped, and both men cull. With sail, culling can be done when dredges are overboard. When two men scallop, the owner of the boat takes three-fifths while his partner shares two-fifths of the profit.
Twenty-five to 30 openers prepare the scallop for market during the afternoons and evenings. These are paid at the rate of 25 cents per gallon, and average about $1.50 per day, a good opener cutting out a gallon of "eyes" in an hour. Small scallops open 700 "eyes" per gallon; the larger ones, 500.